AROUND the NBA:

[F Gump]

I'm guessing the Mavs carried a lot of debt, which impacted the value of the team when he sold it. While the franchise looks successful on paper because of appreciation, you don't get any of that in your bank account. The Mavs were also probably forced to revenue-share with other teams because of the DFW market size, and media rights with RSN's have become quite unreliable as a source of income.

Over time negative cash flow turns into bigger and bigger debt, which compounds against revenues. And it was slated to get even worse going forward - with a deeper talent base and Luka about to hit supermax status, there will be way more payroll and tax ahead every year.

For a certain number of years, there are depreciation tax write-offs that allow an owner to offset the cash drain with tax savings, but eventually that equation erodes when the losses are bigger and the write-offs (based on economics from years ago) are relatively smaller.

Adelson is a MUCH BIGGER fish financially in relation to the cash to erase all the past debt and start fresh, along with cash to sustain annual outlays. She also gets brand new write-offs using today's economics. It's a completely different model for her.